Is there any free parking lots?
I mean, not in the center, also a little outsite, I would go by walk in the center then... is it possible?

Thanks.

Zurich discourages city driving and parking. Blue zone (1-hour free with disc display) in the Zurich city periphery. A few unrestricted free places in the suburbs (about 10km from center). Not really walking distance. You might as well commute from home.

There are free bicycle parking spaces, and the first of these now cost money too Other than that, Goldtop is right.

There are indeed "free" parking in Zurich center, after 1900hrs. Some after 1800hrs.
But I am not going to tell you, ....cos it will jam up these places.
Hint: near garden park.

Sorry.

Many of the curbside metered slots and all the blue zones are free after working hours.

Thre is also the park & ride facility in Zurich West just at the end of the motorway.

is that free?

Albisguetli, end of tram 13.
Between 19:00 and 08:00.

No but fairly cheap.

How to park "free" in Zurich or city areas.

1. Get a very dirty looking car / don't wash your car for 3 winter months at least
2. Remove all number plates or cover it up with hard mud
3. Jack up the car and remove one wheel (as if puncture)
4. Open the bonnet and place big jellycan of water on top of the engine
5. Put up the red triangle somewhere behind but near the car.

However do not park near "tow away" zones.

Good luck!


Second way: drive up to a nice expensive hotel with an equally expensive auto.
Use the valet parking / ask for parking in front of hotel.
Discreetly leave the hotel but leave the auto parked there.

Last and final way:
Watch Mr Bean with parking episode. Try to take new ticket from carpark entrance.!

There's a reson why they are free - the shops have closed

They are useful for a night out in Zürich. You need to get there just after the shops close to get one

Is it possible to park your car free in a small city/village OUTSIDE zurich and then take the local train (S-bahn).
Like Wettingen or maybe even closer to Zurich??
(For myself I like a place west from Zurich)

I am Andre from the Netherlands

Sorry to bone-pick.
This option sounds very funny to me.
If one is to use the train (part journey), why not just use the full journey from the nearest trainstation (park and ride) from his house? What is the difference? Train ticket price? Distance? Time?
It all averages out in the end.

I believe one drives the car for convenience sake. To carry goods or to buy groceries. Then it is ok (justified) to drive into city center.

Or is he simply too lazy to try out the swiss public transport?
Or some other personal reasons? Handicap?

Whatever it is, you need to pay for parking in city center. The closest way to park free, is to go to public carparks which are free after 1700hr or 1900hrs.
Other ways are cheating ways. My "jokes" are similarly cheating, but some of the suggestions do work.

HAT

Thanks HAT

You may be Bone Picking if the arguments you use would also be suported by others (in this case me).

A car is just a transportation thing like a bike or a train which you have to pick to the best price and the fastest connection.

In the City these days a car is a hell of a thing.

If it would be cheaper and faster I would take a train or a bus or a bik or a flight. But I live in the Netherlands and there is no budget flight like Ryanair. So fastest/cheapest option to take the car CLOSE TO the City.

Why take it IN TO the City if there are other transport methods which are much easier, much safer and overall (parking cost+extra price of a hotel with carparking)cheaper. I dont considder carying arround all that mettal INTO a city as a comfortable thing at all.

If you could fold a car together and take it into your hotel room or if you get stuck in a trafic jam you so could carry it with you as a pedestrain a car would be a nice thing in the City.

Also if you look for an adress for the first time it would be better to "kick the car in the river"...Also if you want to dwell along touristic sites or just allong the bars - again a car is nothing.

I have two cars at home, live 3 km from the City Centre (Eindhoven), but I will always take a Bike to the City, much more relaxed and more Healthy (for me AND others) too. Only when transporting bigger things a car is worth the effort to pull it in the City Centre.

Final thing. The Police is always looking to cars to write tickets.
If you dont know a city as a foreighner the risk of doing a wrong thing ands get a ticket is high, especially in countries where they drive fast and all seem to be in a hurry and honk the horns behind you when you try to find your hotel.

Regretfully I need to be there also at daytime and because it is not Asia (where the cities live 24 hrs a day) I also need daytime to take a pleasent walk downtown.

BTW , if you made the suggestion of making a carwreck of your car to avoid parking fees, I dont think that will work. The people who are living there will complain and they will pick up your car and put it in the distructor. Or maybe if you arrive and the Police sees you and gives you a big Fine. Also some kids may want to play with your car so at the end of the day you can bring itself to the distructor.
Maybe a good thing if you drive an Asian "throw away after use" car but not for a 26 year oldtimer MB 280S in original paint..

Maybe you want to give me now info where to park free in other villages cose to (west from) Zurich??

Andre

Andre



ANdre

I was wondering wheather you are following these tips.....

Ok ok....

Here is my favorite carpark in ZH city.

Park your car near the end of the park where the lake starts. Near where the boats are parked.
There is a carpark for about 50 autos. Also for heavy vehicles.
(If you can find a free one).
It is only 50rp per hour, upto 4 hours or so.
After 1900hrs, it is free.

Therefore I always park there, when I want to go ZH city with my car.
Further down the road, is another restaurant, which has another car park with similar conditions.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...,0.037422&z=15

Ok, now the truth is out....


PS: Of course you have to walk a fair distance to Bahnhofstrasse, but exercise never killed anyone. Not me.

Thanks again HAT

I red that free parking post.
As i mentioned before I dont think youre or Beans Idea wil work.

Maybe the parking info at the lake is good for others but as i told before my favor is always to drop the car in a safe and quiet little village just before the City and go by train or bus in the buzy City to sleep there for a few days. Saves a lot of stress and maybe also a little money.
Same I did when I went to New York...

I only drive in a City if I can put the car for (about) free direct at the hotel. That is - if I dont have to take a much more expensive hotel with free parking. And thats not the case in Zurich.

But with the kind help of a hotel outside Zurich I know now my plans will also work for Zurich.
The hotels in Zurich give excelent and fast feedback, like a Swiss watch.

So your parking space will still be available , but anyways thanks for the offer/info..

I plan to take a cheap hotel in Limmatquai or Limmatstrasse.
Because it is a tuesday in oktober I dont think there is a lot of noise of all the bars there, and maybe there is still a happy hour for the beers in the afternoon in downtown like it was 15 years ago.
15 years ago I only drank happy hour beer and a special offer small Hamburger of 1.50 CHF.
What I rememberred is that the breakfast are expensive too and are still expensive (Like 30CHF now).
So best is to book a somewhat nicer hotel including breakfast for 20-30CHF more in total for 2 persons then a cheaper without breakfast...

Good Luck HAT

PS , do you know if all buizines are open in the week of 15 oktober?
Here in the Netherlands the schools and a lot other things are closed in that week.

Andre

Can't help with Andre's quite specific needs, especially as i can't think of anywhere, certainly in my village (20 mins outside the city) he could park for a few days. Parking in the villages is still metered and can be just as difficult as the city. I suspect that if a local sees a car left for a couple of days at one of the "free' spots by woods etc its likely to be considered abandoned and reported.

but, for those reading this thread for other reasons, like; live in a village and want to drive to the outskirts then walk/bike to get some exercise etc.
I've stumbled across more free parking than you might think exists. They still tend to have time restrictions to deter overnight parking so you'll need a little blue disk (from the police station), but we're 15hrs for some.

The ones i know are;
-up the hill from tiefenbrunnen station (popular, can be hard to get a spot)
-the vitaparcours in the woods near Buchenegg platz and towards Zumikon on the same road as tram 11 but higher up than realp
-further up the hill near Waid hospital and a big restaurant

and probably a couple of others, too difficult to describe here, so hunt around and there's probably one near you.

Depends how far you can walk.

There's a guy in my office who walks into Oerlikon from Dübendorf every day.